Bitchu Province

Bitchu (備中国 -no kuni) was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshu, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture. Bitchu bordered Hoki, Mimasaka, Bizen, and Bingo provinces.

The ancient capital and temples were built around Soja. For much of the Muromachi period, the province was dominated by the Hosokawa clan, who resided on Shikoku and allowed the province a degree of independence. By the Sengoku period, other clans fought over Bitchu, and Oda Nobunaga and Mori Terumoto were fighting in the province when Oda died, leading to a division of the province. After 1600, the province was divided among a variety of han (fiefs), and included a number of castles. By the time the provinces were reorganized into prefectures, the dominant city was the port, Kurashiki.